Page by Page Summary

The following are mostly short, evocative descriptions of the narrative content of each story page. They may be supplemented with more detailed specifics. The current idea is to be able to skim this page to find a particular remembered page.

First page "Kleya" uploads her "Kat v7" avatar attempt and resumes L.i.F.e.

Title page Title splash. Kleya awakes in L.i.F.e., accompanied by server logs indicating this.

Kleya's unauthorized napping in the library is noted by a security bot.

Kleya's excuses are rejected, and she is fined 3500

Mina appears to show off her new, more casual look for her performance.

Mina is alarmed to discover that Kleya is napping, ruining her credit and exposing her account to possible hacking, in pursuit of trying to get into the Game (rather than focusing on programming effects and music for Mina's performances).

Kleya confirms that she has finished work on the songs. Mina encourages her with the thought of hiring an artist to do an avatar and playing with their earnings from performances.

Kleya readies to leave and returns her borrowed books, just as a commotion over Saisuke erupts.

Low res teaser video of Saisuke plays, much to Mina's delight. Kleya is less impressed.

Saisuke's teaser ends with the obliteration of his foes. Advertisement of the upcoming DeathMatch playse. Kleya leaves.

Kleya arrives at the cheap Game practice server. DeathMatch entrance fee is listed as 6000, avatar authorizeation at 1500, 1 hour practice at 300. Kleya has only 6146. She elects to practice and upload her avatar.

Evolution of "Kat" revealed. "Kat v7" is DENIED authorization.

Danni appears. She can't believe Kleya paid for such a crappy avatar, then is impressed she admits to drawing it herself.

Danni offers to let Kleya use the avatar of her deceased partner, Nanea, and pay for the session.

Danni doesn't let Kleya say no, she needs a new partner and Kleya needs an avatar. She sets up the scenario.

Specials are generally thought to be too complex to use, Danni enters without one. Kleya uploads Hero Smiley before entering.

The server is lower res than Kleya expected, it doesn't even have color. It does have trucks.

Discussion of the importance of style, interrupted by another truck.

Danni demonstrates her ballet moves. Kleya refrains from blowing up the truck.

She dodges the truck normally, but without great style. Then gets an Alert!

Someone outside (in L.i.F.e.) has requested a change in the scenario. Players 3 and 4 enter, the Angus Twins. Danni blames them for her Nanea's death.

Kleya looks at their stats. They are NPCs designed to harrass non-TENka Game entrants. That is not cool.

The Twins intend to disqualify Danni for the upcoming DeathMatch by making her eat a loss. They attack.

Kleya's attempt to defend Danni doesn't work out well. And the Twins turned pain on. And are using a Special.

Special Ribbon immobilizes and inflicts ongoing damage. Kleya doesn't have the strength to break free.

Kleya does, however, have Hero Smilely, which is activated and appears.

Hero Smiley smites the Twins with a suddenly happy disposition. They forfeit. Danni is confused.

Kleya logs out without answering Danni's questions, only to face the no longer happy Twins.

Kleya calls them viruses, they assert their TENka origin. This does not improve Kleya's mood.

Danni arrives, ready to fight. Rules against that do not apply to NPCs. The Twins depart.

Danni and Kleya discuss NPCs, Specials, and invalid avatars.

Kleya doesn't want to use Nanea's avatar, but the upcoming DeathMatch is the best chance to become a player, with 5 open slots rather than one.

Because of Bloody Mary wiping out her own team. Scary. But Danni really needs a partner.

Kleya can't say no to that. But she has a prior engagement to meet.

At L.i.F.e.'s Entertainment CORNER, Mina is waiting to have Kleya help with hee performance.

Kleya goes backstage to run the stage programming while Mina sings. During the song, Kleya checks the DeathMatch registration fee, now at 7500. She still has only 6146.

Kleya is low on above board methods to achieve her goals.

Mina finishes her set, which was "perfect" asid from money.

They grossed 1795, Kleya's 20% comes to 359. Kleya lies about the investment she wants to make for 1000.

The time to upload for the DeathMatch arrives. Kleya has not paid her fine of 3500.

Danni and Kleya discuss the situation.

Danni is stressed. They really need to win, or Danni can't afford L.i.F.e. anymore. Her upload interrupts them.

Danni's parents lend Kleya the money. Kleya decides on an avatar.

Danni is waiting for Kleya when the Twins show up again.

Kat v7 appears. The effect is not pleasing.

More displeasing effects become apparent.

Danni's match ends up as a tie from votes, despite Danni's victory.

Kleya resists the temptation to tamper with the votes. Danni looks up her match.

Kat v7 is matched with Bandit. Danni despairs over the math.

Bandit appears, and maxes out the creep meter. Kleya reacts.

The prat falls. This garners some attention.

Kleya doesn't do interviews. She just wants to win and get out.

Bandit is altering the terms of their engagement. His fans agree.

Bandit has leaky code and an odd stat. His attack is predictable.

He misses repeatedly, despite Kat v7's obvious defects. But her balance isn't great.

Kleya turns that to her advantage, for a moment. Then again.

Bandit's dignity (and votes) are falling. Then time runs out.

Bandit activates his special. It repurposes his excessive sight stat.

He begins to beat Kat v7's helpless form without mercy.

Her health is too low to activate her special. Her anger, on the other hand...

Activates Hero Smilely.

After some shock and awe, the smiting occurs. Bandit is happy.

But he didn't win. Rather the opposite. Kleya and Danni have conflicting feelings.

Bandit looked uncool and uncouth, and lost like a fool, dropping his vote count. Kleya has attracted unwanted attention.

Kleya (still as Kat v7) is detained and questioned by an Agent. She evades.

Kleya turns the charges back on Bandit (yeah, he was cheating too, but with TENka approval).

Kleya forfeits to terminate the investigation.

Danni is waiting for Kleya. She is not best pleased by the forfeit.

TENka is discussing the match with Bandit. He is not what he seemed, nor is the Agent.

Dr. Grace sees Kat v7 as a recruitable asset, since she doesn't appear obsessed with wining.

A few days later, back in the library in L.i.F.e., Kleya is trying to work out her problems.

An angry Mina appears. She wants a new song, to combat Kat v7's rising popularity.

A greedy Danni appears. She wants to get paid for revealing Kat v7's identity. Mina disputes the charge.

Kleya is hiding in a study room while everyone looks for her. An Official arrives.

Kleya suspects him of being TENka. He suspects a scam.

Kleya's use of an unauthorized avatar has left no record definitely connecting her to Kat v7. Danni will be punished unless Kleya admits it was her.

Further, L.i.F.e. is offering to overturn her forfeiture because of TENka's apparent intimidation tactic, given Kat v7's popularity.

Kleya is willing if Danni also gets into the Game Trials. L.i.F.e. leaves it to her to convince her fans.

Meanwhile, Danni, Mina, and Sandra are discussing Kleya. Kleya returns to admit the truth.

Mina is Kleya's manager! And still a singer. But is Kleya willing to enter the Game Trials?

Sandra explains anti-TENka sentiment 101 and offers to sponser Kleya.

Kleya would rather deflect the attention. She announces that Danni is her partner. Mina begins managing.

Danni pulls Kleya into a study for a private conference about repayment with a custom Special.

Kleya explains stuf about Specials. Danny explains about Game Trials.

In other words, it's a double elimination tournament.

Kleya explains more about Specials. And leaves.

Kleya goes to face Mina (and her family) and admit she lied.

Mina is glitching from having too many spectators causing lag.

Her L.i.F.e. avatar crashes for the third time. Kleya suggests limiting veiwing angles to reduce their render load and bandwidth usage.

Mae also wants the spectators out of the apartment. Molly (her mother) logs out ot inform Mina.

Mae's watching Snowman's Game group. And suffering IRL.

Mae and Kleya discuss moving to a City, not that either of them can. Molly and Mina return.

Kleya admits that the investment wasn't in a voice enhancer.

They discuss how to move forward.

Kleya goes to meet Danni. Danni has a concern.

Kleya's situation seems like Nanea's. Danni doesn't need another dead partner.

She does, however, need a partner, as the Game is the only way citizens can make money online.

She doesn't want to explain why she can't work offline, but she does want Kleya to have a better avatar than Kat v7.

It's time for Mina's L.i.F.e. live! But Kleya's fans are dissatisfied.

They want Kleya! Kleya doesn't want them. She starts Mina's song.

Kleya stresses over her temper. She isn't much like Mom.

Mina is touched by Kleya's apology, and by her loyalty. And she keeps dreaming big.

Danni and Kleya arrive to upload for the Game Trials. Sandra wants to discuss fans, and winning.

Kat v8 is still invalid. Worse, the Game Trials only allow one special. Kat can be Nice.

Also, the tournament seed is totally rigged. She's fighting Bandit.

Dr. Grace has a secret master plan. He doesn't need him watching.

Bandit and Kat v8 begin their fight.

Bandit activates his Special first, but someone is hacking...Danni!

D appears! He is finally permitted to act...and causes a shutdown.

The restart is quick, but the panic is palpable. TENka announces they have found a hacker.

Superbug (subtle) used a virus in his Special to disable his opponent. He was operating from the defunct Germany City.

TENka returns everyone to their regularly scheduled Game Trials, but this doesn't quell all alarm over the hacker.

Bandit is declared winner of the interrupted match. Whatever.

Kat v8 faces the Man with No Name (or anything else but a really slow attack)

Kat activates Nice! TMwNN cringes in terror for a bit...then charges once nothing happens.

TMwNN hits a pacifist Kat for 24 points, and another 8 of fall damage. Nice hits him for 32/32.

TMwNN falls, and Kat v8 wins! Turns out his name was Punk Knight. Alas, nobody cares.

Morgana Elite appears. She has a Special, so Kat and her talk while they wait out the 20 second delay.

Nice does nothing, again. Kat raises her hands helplessly, again. Morgana Elite blasts her with a fireball, and Nice smites her.

Kat v8 is the winner? And wins again! 5x...I thought there were only 65 contestants?

Bloody Mary is in the Trials! She's put Danni into the Losers grid...against Kat!

Dr. Grace wants Bandit to help him observe Kat's match with Danni.

As Kleya hesitates, Danni begins her...attack?!

ALERT! It's really an attack, with a balanced followup. She knows ballet-fu!

Kat praises her moves, still hesitating to activate Nice. Danni activates her Special.

Danni's whirling kick of death approaches!

Kat activates Nice (the fights are paused while that intro is played). Then Danni's kick connects for 82 total damage.

Nice smites Danni! No!

Danni faces Waterman in a popularity contest for the fifth spot as Dr. Grace gloats.

Danni loses the fifth spot. Kleya looks at Kat v8's...mitts.

"Mom--all over again."

Kat grieves her refusal to lose. But because of that, she could take top place.

The extra pay for being a leader could help Danni...but Dr. Grace is still scheming.

He needs Bandit to drop to the Loser grid and fight Kat. But Bandit would rather not.

They discuss whether Kat is really who they're trying to find.

Dr. Grace prevails, Bandit's match is declared forfeit.

Kat faces The Dude in the Losers Semi Final! The Dude has a question...to which he already knows the answer.

Kat activates Nice. The Dude forfeits at the mere sight. Dr. Grace is not pleased.

He discusses Nice with Bandit.

Bandit has a cunning plan to be nice.

Bandit activates his Special first, again.

Kat tries to avoid his first attack.

And fails. But she does survive to activate Nice.

Which Bandit insults, even at the cost of canceling his own Special.

Kat grows weary of Bandit's insults, but how will she prevail if he's "nice"?

Bandit turns up his creep factor! Is that his idea of being nice?

Kat smacks him. Nice smites her in return. Bandit smirks.

Now he's monologuing. What is up with him?

His creep factor goes to 11! And then he trips Kat, for fall damage.

That wasn't nice! Nice so judges! Kat leaps to the attack!

Or rather, the no-damage swing dancing. Bandit doesn't catch her (cause he's a jerk).

And then he falls on top of her for damage! Nice determine this to be not nice, and is unimpressed with his dodging.

Bandit finally realizes the missing piece of the puzzle. He is petulant about losing and wants people to die.

Dr. Grace doesn't want to die. He covers for Bandit.

His (new) cunning plan is to have Kat fight Bloody Mary, and observe.

Dimitri and Kim argue, but the fight is beginning. Bandit is on cheating duty.

Kat v8 vs Bloo- I mean, Jane. Jane's creepy Special is not well coded. Bandit doesn't want to die.

Like Dr. Grace's son. Are these people all insane, or just Jane?

Kat activates Nice. Bandit is working on hacking it. Jane is being crazy.

Jane activates her Special. The dolls attack.

They dish out more than they can take, Nice squishes them...but Jane is not affected.

And the dolls multiply when they're killed...draining Jane's HP, but not as fast as they deal damage.

Dr. Grace realizes that Nice is ineffective against Jane's dolls. Kat is going to need a new plan.

Kat cancels Nice and dodges.

She exploits the imbalanced stats of the dolls to counter-attack before they get back up.

Success! But Jane exploits the fact that Kat is distracted.

ALERT! Kat barely avoids being sliced.

And now the dolls are after her again, but she hides behind Jane.

The dolls, unlike Nice, have IFF. Kat needs to evade.

She fails, at this range. Hacking may be her only option.

But she's reminded of the look on Danni's and her Mom's faces when she put winning above all else.

Mental trauma has the worst timing.

Dr. Grace does not understand. Bandit explains unhelpfully.

Dr. Grace accepts that Kat cannot be her. But Bandit shares a different opinion with Brandon.

For the first time, we learn what "her" is supposed to mean. Well, not that we didn't guess.

Brandon and Bandit have some heart to heart discussion about her.

Kat is trying to come to terms with having lost outright. The image of Jane doesn't help.

Kleya signs out and goes looking for acceptance, starting with Danni's.

But the Lillys need her to help Mae, since her custom interface macros Kleya made stopped working in the shutdown.

She's got to find Danni first, though.

Danni's hiding in the University, an unfinished area. But Waterman sends a petition to remove Jane.

Kat v8's vote is the tie breaker...but Kleya chooses not to be vindictive. Jane, on the other hand....

Kleya goes into the unfinished University area.

She finds Danni.

Danni didn't want to be found. That's why she's hiding in there.

Kleya's money won't do Danni any good. Her City has changed the requirements.

Danni's a "costly liability" IRL. Getting a Game spot was her last chance. Kleya offers hers.

But Danni's tired of letting others sacrifice themselves for her. She's accepted her uselessness...but she wanted to dance a bit more.

The bot is delivering a message for Danni, but it lags out because of the area's defects.

Jane's counter petition to kick Waterman succeeded...way to not be the deciding vote, Kleya.

Danni is in. She's taking the open slot. She's also forwarding messages from Sandra.

Danni has good news to share and hear, Kleya goes to meet Sandra.

Sandra talks about the perks of being sponsored...including importation.

Kleya refuses. Sandra is understanding, but insistent.

The game requires a Kido. Kleya casually admits she can get one working.

That only makes Sandra more determined to import Kleya, but she accepts that it also means Kleya can say no.

Meanwhile, Brandon is compensating for his patheticness by being one move away from checkmate by two queens. Lolwut.

Bandit and he discuss whether her could hack the geomagnetic field etc.

Kleya finally gets around to Mae. Her family is 'napping' IRL, so Mae asks which City Kleya's going to.

On finding out Kleya's not being imported, Mae offers to discuss her IRL situation.

Mae's a bit tired of not being IRL at all cause of her arm, her Mom logs back in to interrupt.

Molly offers to let Kleya use their couch to log out. Kleya accepts.

The real life of a levitating cyborg girl. It's dark, but high tech.

She can turn off the levitation when she wants to walk around like a puny human.

She can also talk to D out loud, a luxury she can't afford online.

D only answers through displays and stuff. They discuss how the planet's screwed up.

The volcanos are less dramatic now, at least.

She has stuff to do, like the Kido thing, and eating (sorta).

The food is not great.

But it's obtained honestly, which is what counts. She gets to work.

Keeping up the appearance of not being a MMI cyborg takes actual work without shortcuts.

But it's important. And things like spoofing different interface hardware is easy enough.

Okay, time to sit back up and resume L.i.F.e.

Hooray, Mae's interface is back. But she's forgotten how to get off the couch.

After some complaints about IRL food, Mae learns to stand up.

Mina plots out Kleya's career, and offers her mom as a moderator to handle the fans.

Kleya endures the cloying crowd as she heads to the login point, then encounters Danni, who has a different problem.

Kleya is good at returning venom. Also, she likes protecting Danni.

While the area loads, Danni and Kat have some odd personal issues.

Bandit being a bit stalkerish, Brandon questioning Bandit's motives and methods.

Brandon, moved by his incipient death, finally calls Jake by name. Oh, and suddenly likes Kleya.

Danni is very impressed with the outdoor feel of the Game area.

The Dude and Bandit arrive. The Dude tries to dive into the lake, Kat dissuades Danni from joining him.

Since everything but the grass is just a skybox to hide that they're in a simple box. The Dude isn't hurt, except for his pride.

The Dude remembers his mission to make friends with Kat. He is inept.

Sandra arrives. She likes having her own server, despite the limitations.

Yep, Jane has kids. No, they don't look like that.

Patrick arrives, in Paddy form. That does not please Sandra.

Paddy will redo all their avatars. He's excited to do homage to Daniella Morretti, the famous ballerina.

He's greatly shocked and enthused to learn Danni is herself.

They begin discussing the (deleted) Nice Special.

The secret of Nice, revealed...by Bandit.

Bandits technical acumen (including cheaty log access), also revealed.

Jane arrives, scares The Dude, Sandra reveals that they are not getting paid today.

Saisuke has preempted them. Sandra is displeased with TENka.

The Dude defends TENka, Jane is displeased with Citizens.

Everyone else tries to get back on task.

Brandon remembers his task is chatting up Kat. Not that he's figured out how.

Paddy is also supposed to do that when designing her new avatar. He elicits a firm "No".

I agree...it's not a great first try. Nor is Bandit doing well with Danni.

Dude at least isn't personally responsible for killing anyone she liked, or almost killing her. And Kat is expressing her insights into this association.

Which isn't perfect. After she logs out, Paddy, Sandra, and Jane mull her sanity.

Kleya makes it back to the Lilly's for a discussion of her career path.

Mae blacks out from pain, Molly goes to check on her IRL. Kleya asks how serious it is.

Mina is determined to be optimistic, Kleya remembers her own inability to deal with her mother's illness.

Brandon is cheating at chess to compensate for his recent trauma. He discusses Kleya with Jake.

Kleya's father is mentioned. Jake becomes slightly evasive on the subject.

Kleya meets up with Danni so they can walk to the Game Access together.

Kleya's fans are getting weirder, she and Danni end up running for it.

Danni reassures Kleya as they reach the upload point, Bandit and The Dude are already logged in.

Paddy shows off his giant purple gorilla in overalls look.

Then his milspec combat mecha avatar. It is a poor choice.

Sandra and Paddy didn't know anyone survived Shanghai's incident with those...

The Dude didn't know that anyone from IHI survived the Hacker Hunts. Jane appears.

Everyone tries to prepare for the arrival of Danni and Kat.

Danni especially loves her avatar. Kat is pleased.

Kat's lack of a frown triggers Jake's memories, Kat noticies and is displeased.

Sandra announces that they'll all be playing the tutorial, to boost their popularity.

They'll have to get their initial Esone before using Specials. The Dude is not pleased.

Bandit is more confident. Kat has advice for Danni.

Danni is unsure. Kat is extremely confident.

Loading... Slowly, with cool animation.

Welcome to the Mists. Newbies (like Danni) find it more disconcerting than not.

The Wisps, on the other hand, find Jane disconcerting.

Kat begins her master plan, which varies from the 'recommended' path.

Thanks to the Wisp Express, Jane arrives first.

The tutorial NPC's have no idea what Jane is about to do.

The main NPC gives the quest, Jane gives no quarter.

Jane hides the child NPC's eyes while she buries her blade. Danni still hasn't started.

Bandit is being creepy again, this time towards a kid.

The Dude is being greedy, but he'll settle for a Card.

Not that the kid (or anyone else) thinks he deserves one.

But The Dude has ranks in Bluff and Pickpocket. Apparently.

Kat arrives, after a detour to gather a green lasso. She knows the dialog and the encounter triggers by heart already.

Back to Bandit, who is absconding with a kid and saying things that aren't reassuring.

Kat, on the other hand, is being nice, however much it goes against her preferences.

She tames the savage (weak-sauce) fiendi with a collar of malerve.

Kat recieves the sacred flower of good people.

She smiles with evil satisfaction. Danni has almost reached the quest NPCs.

She arrives, and sticks the landing...sorta. But the quest NPC is slready dead.

This is very frustrating. The clingy little brat is not helping.

Hugs are useless. The backup quest information is somewhat less so.

Back to Bandit, whose every action seems highly questionable to his young abductee.

His nonsensical actions begin to bear amusing (and unfortunate, for the fiendi) results.

Danni reaches the fiendi island...but where are they?

Danni displays concern for her socks, The Dude displays his (non) mastery of chess...and the tutorial.

Kat is crafting some kind of Flower Power wand.

Danni is walking into an ambush while distracted by phosphorescent grass.

The fiendi attacks! and is instantly dispatched.

It had friends. Lots of them. Danni and The Dude have disparate reactions to this.

The Dude activates Flee mode. Bandit looks down on his enemies.

Bandit orders his young captive to take the island's helm, and set a collision course.

The fiendi are cast into the Mists with a mighty "Boom!"

His delight is clouded by sad memories of IRL explosions, but he presses on.

Kat notices that Bandit is doing the Demoli route. Cause she's hacking.

Her Flower Power neutralizes the fiendi, while The Dude runs towards a lucky break.

Danni boosts her Morto rating higher, while Bandit whistles towards the objective

They lay hands on their Esones while The Dude remains in Flee mode.

The Dude's luck card finally triggers.

Kat has scored a pretty pink "100%". She's pleased to skip the cutscene.

Everyone is already finished, and discussing their alignment results.

Kat, having a perfect Erbana score, finds herself among villains.

Bandit got his wish, but Kat does not want to accept this outcome.

She can't abandon the few friends she's made, but she can't go on as a villain. She logs out.

"Kleya's" memories of her happy childhood as a prodigy with no limits.

A genius who could transform the world...by leaving human limits behind.

And the terrible backlash from the humans she'd surpassed.

He deemed her the world's greatest monster.

Kleya returns to L.i.F.e. and faces her fan's bewilderment.

They wanted her to be a villain. But there are IRL costs to that.

She wants them to leave her alone. They don't want to. She can make them.

But that's not what she wants to do anymore.

Kleya calls on D to prevent the damage.

By shutting down the system. Someone's trapped in a Kido.

Someone is speaking Chinese while prying open the lid.

They address Jake while shining a light in his face.

Life support systems are down.

No lights, no power, just the deep blue sea.

Tenka City from the outside.

Jake meets Walter.

Neither knows what's going on.

But they know what will happen if it isn't fixed.

They try some light banter to stave off despair.

And the power comes back online.

Walter nearly faints with relief.

It's merely the latest of many brushes with death.

But he's not as young as he once was.

Jake encounters a door that won't open, but there's a handy service hatch.

On the other side, a smiling Virus is in control.

Her Virus. Did she attack again? What to do?

This should work...without killing me.

"Welcome...Jakey! What can I do for you?"

Just say the magic phrase...Re-set completed.

Everyone needs you, Jake.

Welcome to Central! It's at the very top of the main Sphere.

Explain your alarming absence and involvement in this crisis, Jake!

Better yet, go rest before you die and leave us as the mercy of the Virus.

The smart storage system remembers where the food is, but doesn't maek it taste better.

Okay, enough talking to computers, let's talk to figments of my imagination.

"What is she trying to do?"

Could I just ask her? Are we still friends?

"Everything changed so fast."

Kim interupts Jake's reminesance.

They discuss Dr. Grace and his schemes.

And the very recent Virus incident.

And Kat's possible motives for playing her mother's route.

Kim's theory may be flawed...

But she won't forgive her.

Kim leaves Jake with a grim warning.

Danni logs back into L.i.F.e., finally she can move again!

But not everyone is so cheerful, and Kleya is missing.

A witness to Kleya's last actions before the shutdown is concerned about hacking.

Danni can't do anything about it...just like with Nanea.

She just wants a chance to dance, but everyone else has different plans.

Danni's mom comes through, but someone's looking for Daniella.

The ensign of her IRL fans.

Wants to shake her hand.

Danni hates being sick.

She hides in the University.

"Dance until the pain goes away."

Kleya's hiding there too.

Danni thinks ignoring messages is pretty irresponsible.

"Are you having, um...Survival problems?" Or what?

Danni would really like to feel useful to someone.

"Just say sorry and learn from the mistake."

"Unlikeable...Huh."

Danni has memories of her childhood.

"Dancing. That became my answer to everything."

"Facing a life that no longer has any purpose to it."

Listening to Danni, Kleya remembers her mother's words.

Danni has her own frustrations.

"How did you do in the Tutorial?"

Erbana seems likeable.

"But...They think I'm a villain."

"Can't our group change villain status?"

"You teach me how to do Kesti, I'll turn Hero."

Danni is disconnected.

Her City has problems, and no mechas. Hacking could scare them into making things worse.

"You Have 437 NEW Messages:" including one from The Bandit.

"Hi! I'm Jake."

"He was there. With him. On his side."

"MESSAGE DELETED"

Jake and Brandon catch up.

"She might just hate your Bandit persona."

Or she might want to kill all humans...and be easily able to.

Or she might just not want to be called a villain anymore.

"You're drowning in conspiracies!"

"What's our new plan?" We'll piss her off for no clear reason.

That should make her friendly.

Jake, just admit you're nuts (not about her, just in general).

The Game group reassembles in Sandra's server.

And Paddy promptly causes a big red ERROR.

Just a failed background change. It's not important.

Our popularity is what matters. And our replays were erased.

We can't redo the tutorial.

The popularity graph. What's wrong with Erbana?

They're very incompatible with Morto...and Demoli.

Particularly Jane. Maximum incompatiblity.

And killing Group members isn't off-limits. In fact, we're planning on it.

"And since Danni has the lowest popularity score...."

And just to mess with Kat's Erbana alignment.

Guelia Isola briefing.

Her father's haunt.

Dude, shut up about Citzens when Jane's around.

It's more a Morto job anyway.

But we're not going to try it right off the bat.

Let's focus on not getting killed first.

Kat gives Danni last minute tips on variable g.

And not dying, by attacking first. They upload.

And are repositioned so that Danni will be right next to Jane.

Kat is out of legal options for saving Danni.

Jane appears suspiciously unfazed by the repositioning, in contrast to Danni.

Danni uses her extra long legs to kick Jane in the face, but still gets sliced.

Kat grabs a flower. Danni does a backflip in half g.

Jane is following up...until she inhales a magic dandelion.

This may be traumatic if you suffer from allergies yourself. Kat and Danni escape.

Dude is confused, then terrified.

Dude also escapes, leaving Jane low on targets.

She is not keen on getting closer to Bandit's smug face.

He offers to let her practice killing scoiatti while he retrieves the others.

Once alone, Jane attempts to set her Special on her Esone...without success.

Meanwhile, Kat and Danni continue escaping.

Kat spies, with her hacker eye, a rare plant. Time to rest.

Danni wobbles in 42% g, then notices her Esone.

And that Kat has a Hammerspace special.

Danni has to learn to do all the interface management.

So she can place and set her Esone. Kat climbs a tree.

Dude appears, Danni's defensive reflexes kick him in the face.

At least he's not dead, so he can tell her about Whispers.

Danni does not like to multitask, though. Kat is still in the tree.

Dude attempts to emulate her. Hilarity ensues.

Kat returns to the ground. HLZ PLZ!

"This area doesn't have those type of plants." Cause I taught my dad how to stop them growing.

That memory doesn't make Kat happy, they'll have to go to the port town.

Erbanas can avoid random encounters. Because alignment and levels are different.

Speaking of which, Danni wants to switch to Kesti. Dude can give her a quest...if Kat approves.

A quick primer on Kesti and quests.

Kat approves Dude's quest, Danni accepts it without hearing it cause of Bandit.

That's okay, it's a simple fetch quest, listed in her interface.

"I just found my popularity stats. They're going up!"

Dude sees Kat smile, and foolishly mentions it. Bandit wants to pick up Jane.

Meanwhile, Jane is practicing. Happily.

She runs out of scoiatti. Too bad.

For the trees, at least. Danni and Dude would rather she stay away.

They argue while Kat notices something.

Kat quietly readies MEAN EATER.

And casts it...it could use a smiley face.

But doesn't need one to eat...something mean looking.

Everyone acts unsurprised.

Applause, and snark, from the forest shadows.

Bandit is unfazed, and has his own response ready.

Kat insists on being nice. Bandit tells her nicely make him.

Persuasive plant use...for some definitions of "persuasion".

Bandit nicely lies down in the nice grass. Dude is confused.

The enemy comes out in the open. They think things got easier for them.

Negotiations begin...including Bandit's first overture to Kat.

But the main subject is Jane. Where is she?

There's a bounty on Jane, for her actions as Bloody Mary.

The opposing leader approaches...Kat is wary of her.

Her group is not interested in being nice.

Dude finally catches on that the enemy leader is Mani.

Quick exposition on Mani. She is not pleased.

Dude is Bandit's wingman. But Kat is unmoved.

And she's not letting Bandit move either.

Kat can see their stats and knows she can win even without hacking, with a litle help.

Dude is not sure he should. And his Special complements Bandit and Jane more than Kat.

Danni, on the other hand, is sure that Outsiders deserve a chance. Even Jane.

The Mani decides negotiations have failed. Dude throws in with Kat's plan.

Dude does what he does best. Somehow this is not what the Mani expected.

Partly because he's running in the wrong direction...or is he?

The opposing team turns to look...the poor fools.

Kat 'persuades' the Mani to lie down and shut up.

And politely asks Danni to help her neutralize the rest of them.

Danni is a little too eager for 42% g, and the bald Demoli sees a shot.

Incoming.

MEAN EATER gets indigestion. Kat dodges a giant flame wave. Danni...

Ouch. Kat is NOT pleased.

"I can destroy them--the nice way."

Plant fiber is surprisingly strong.

But Kat didn't gather enough of those plants.

Fortunately, the other team doesn't know how they work. They lose another effective.

Bandit is trying to get back into the fight. Someone beats him to it.

Danni's still moving, to Kat is overjoyed.

Danni's too busy fighting to be similarly thrilled.

Herve, the opposing Demoli, is too busy being a tree. The opposing team has only one effective.

It wasn't Kat...it was her father's Special.

Dude's voice is getting closer suddenly. What's he fleeing now?

Kat tries to get everyone to safety. Including Vize.

Dude! Run faster! That thing is way to close or even more way too big!

Or both. "That's going to kill everyone!"

Vize picks a card, any card. Kat can't stop him.

Or can she?

"And it, of course, hits the deselione instead."

"Dude! I need that card!"

Everyone watches the deselione fight it's even more monstrous doppleganger.

Kat is fed up with Vize.

She's taking that card for herself.

And the monstrous doppleganger it created.

Bandit is fed up with Kat. It's time for someone to die, and he's not asking nicely.

Vize is about to go down, but Kat won't kill him. Bandit...

Won't either. Not if Kat can stop him.

Bandit isn't fussy about who he kills. Anyone will do.

"The chimera can't block both."

Bandit realizes that endangering his entire City might not be a great idea.

"She's not hacking?"

Kat can shield her friends while the chimera shields her enemies.

But she probably doesn't have as many hit points.

Bandit could endanger his entire City again, and far worse.

After all...um...no, I can't follow this line of 'reasoning'.

Jake knows that this is a terrible idea that makes zero sense.

LEEROOOY JENKINS!

Steven! Steven please! Let's go, let's go!

Danni Intervention!

DanniKat has exited the tree!

"Next Death will be permanent."

"Please find another Esone."

Leeroy, you are just stupid as hell.

There is no minimum safe distance.

Jane is blissfully unaware of...everything.

Other than what she can kill...oh wait?

She spots the light of unrestricted Demoli Specials being unleashed.

Aza, the Mani, starts collecting her team, and harping on TENka.

They start trying to plan something, but don't spot Jane in time.

Kat, meanwhile, is deciding to be very specific about her vengeance.

But saving Danni is more urgent right now.

Oh, Jane has arrived. She wants off this island.

"I'll spare the dancer again."

"The trouble is coming down, my fair kitty."

"They're killing my kids."

Bandit courts death. IRL. For his whole City.

Dude arrives...and doesn't understand.

Kat finds Danni, narrowly avoids a kick in the face.

Danni apologizes for being easily scared, then Dude flees to them, screaming.

To Danni, at least. He's still scared of Kat.

But not scared enough to refrain from asking for a card Kat doesn't have.

Bandit arrives. Danni wants an explanation.

Something with fangs arrives. It wants Dude's insides.

Bandit decides to explain something else.

Dude still hasn't saved himself. Bandit pretends not to be a jerk.

Jane saves Dude...or just kills the thing in her way.

Everyone assumes the latter.

Bandit bargains for Dude's life. Jane's reply is ambiguous.

Dude fesses up about the portal.

Bandit 'warns' Jane not to kill Dude.

Jane's not dead. But Kat still doesn't think Bandit was nice.

Jane doesn't want that portal.

"Well, I do."

Bandit thinks Jane will listen to him.

In any case, she's not willing to alienate Kat further.

Dude, however, is willing to alienate Danni further.

Even at the risk of his life.

Dude gives in and tries to relocate the portal.

"He's triggering the Flee response."

Bandit still doesn't seem to realize that he's tried to literally kill Danni's IRL multiple times.

"The screaming stopped."

"This...is not normal."

"Jane didn't want this." But she doesn't hesitate either.

Kat follows. Bandit ponders the implications of the portal.

Danni catches up. Bandit is helpful as ever.

Danni has concerns, but the portal of opportunity is closing.

She goes through, as if there were an alternative. The trees resume their vigil.

It's raining on the other side, in the middle of a desert, obviously.

Kat and Bandit both Whisper help. Danni gives each the answers they deserve.

Danni navigates the soaking wet 2 g desert carefully. Dude doesn't help.

He didn't scare away the deseliones either. Not that there were more around.

The rain stops. So does their playing period.

Mortos get guard duty, except for Jane.

Last time she was on guard duty, she killed her entire team.

She doesn't seem penitent, either. Alternatives?

"Okay, Bandit shall be on watch."

Jane might have logged out already. Or just be waiting to kill them when they do.

The rest of them discuss this quandry, and decide to just stay away from her.

Danni notices that Kat is holding something.

It's because the inventory system doesn't support "pockets". Oh well.

Also, sand does not turn into fire. Lame.

"Are you three ever going to log out?"

"Welcome back, Bandit. You have 450286 new messages!"

Only 4 are categorized as important.

"Kimi-san it is!"

They discuss the hacked portal.

But Jake really doesn't know anything.

Oh, he does know that TENka can't prove they aren't the bad guys.

And he thinks he knows Brandon better than he lets Brandon know him.

Kim knows that a spy could find proof that TENka aren't the good guys.

Jake decides to be skeptical of the one charge on which "Kleya's" definitely guilty.

Kim brings up that time he went Leeroy Jenkins.

Jake pretends he doesn't know how stupid that was.

Kim believes he might not, but doesn't believe it wasn't stupid.

Dr. Grace feels Kim isn't philosophical enough.

They discuss the spy who placed the portal.

And how to dispose of her.

Jake suggests sending her to try and save Brandon's city.

Dr. Grace is reminded that Jake isn't usually ruthless under his own name.

He explains the basic outline of the Bandit gambit.

And introduces a "distracting hacker" plan based on the actual cyborg. Genius!

Among the many problems with this plan is that it requires Kat to not despise Bandit.

Oh, and she has to agree to be imported to TENka city, rather than just destroying it.

Dr. Grace acknowledges that there is one flaw in this otherwise perfect plan.

Meanwhile, Mae has run out her entertainment budget. Kleya saves her from boredom!

The rest of her family is IRL doing Survival stuff. Kleya 'totally' gets that.

The talk about IRL, and how Mae got hurt.

But that wont' happen again, and last time Mina found a medibot full of supplies!

Mae has an exiting and very scientific theory about the various bots.

Kleya should check her messages. Ah, there's one from Jane.

"Oh, you should go, Mina should be back by then, too!"

Brandon reacts to Jake sending his City a condemned programmer.

And the idea that Kleya can fix things TENka can't. By casually mentioning he knew about the hacked portal.

Of course, he was just trying to secretly alert TENka...to the programmer they're now sending to his City.

Brandon's got quadruple agent problems, but at least he doesn't have to make Kat like Bandit.

And not even that kind of "like". Just "won't kill on sight" like.

Which is pointless anyway, since the plan is supposedly to import her, as if she could hide being the cyborg.

It was supposed to just be a miniture, portable Kido.

The only way to miniturize the neural interface enough was putting it closer to the brain, by implanting it.

And then she improved it...way more than anyone else thought possible, or safe.

Then the Hacker attacks started...whoever was behind all that.

Kleya returns to her new L.i.F.e. apartment. It's not a home.

But it's less public than the Library and free upload point...and she gets paid!

Kat uploads to the meeting with Jane. Sandra seems not to know Jane is insane.

Sandra notices Kat and leaves her and Jane to converse in private.

Jane wants her Special fixed. An easy matter, but why can't Jane do it?

Jane's husband made it...before he died. Jane discusses the Dead Ones.

Kat worries she knows what Jane's getting at...then realizes she really doesn't.

"You want to save people? Want to be nice?"

"Kill the Game...and save us."

"You have it wrong."

"Citizens don't depend on the Game to live."

"Are they stuck? Stuck in a tiny group? Watching resources crumble, watching fear distort, watching death move in next door."

"They kicked me out."

TENka originally planned to have Bandit take a spot in Bloody Mary's old team.

"A vote was held."